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Only One ESPN Expert Is Picking Duke To Win The National Title

Duke may be a 2-seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but there aren’t too many experts putting their money on the Blue Devils to prevail.

The 2018 NCAA Tournament bracket was unveiled Sunday night, and at this point, it looks like there are two teams that most experts are favoring to prevail in this year’s event. Tuesday morning, ESPN’s experts all released their official picks, and Michigan State and Virginia are getting the most votes.

Nine of ESPN’s experts are picking Michigan State, while eight are taking overall 1-seed Virginia. Five are going with Villanova, with Arizona getting two votes as well. Purdue, Kansas and Duke were each picked once.

The man who picked Duke? Sean Farnham, one of the announcers for ESPN’s SEC games. Farnham, apparently when not making his picks, was part of a weird segment that involved a dizzy bat competition on Monday night.

“Everyone is talking about Kansas and no one is talking about Duke” -Sean Farnham.

Duke didn’t win the ACC regular season title or the league’s tournament title, but the Blue Devils still amassed enough wins to be given a 2-seed in this year’s event.

The Blue Devils feature perhaps the most talented roster in the country, with Marvin Bagley III, Grayson Allen, Gary Trent Jr., Wendall Carter Jr. and Trevon Duval. So while they may not be a top seed, they’re more than capable of putting together a run.

Duke gets started with No. 15 Iona on Thursday at 2:45 PM ET. The game will be broadcast on CBS.